Far Away and Into the Stars
by Perhapsormaybe
Summary: Jimmy, Sheen and Carl have gone missing. It's been a month and no word from any of the boys. With no hints to guide them, can Libby and Cindy find a way to rescue the boys? Jimmy/Cindy Sheen/Libby Carl/Llamas
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **I like working on multiple stories at a time. It actually keeps me more focused since when I'm in a funny mood I have one thing to update and a serious mood has another story. While you can ask questions, please keep in mind they may be things that come up in later chapters. Suggestions on "why didn't Jimmy/Cindy/Libby/Carl/Sheen just do this instead" will probably be explained throughout the story. Thank you for your time.

Cindy trudged her way up to the Neutron's front door, sighing before she knocked. Judy answered the door immediately and Cindy had to pretend she didn't see the disappointment in Mrs. Neutron's eyes when the older woman realized it wasn't her son. "Hello, Mrs. Neutron. Just came by with the latest home work assignment."

"I'll put it with the others. Please come in," Judy stood back to allow the blond entrance. Cindy would have rather smacked herself in the head or watched an Ultra Lord marathon, but she went in anyway. Judy set the latest pile of homework with the rest. Three weeks worth of homework that had been left untouched, other than for Mrs. Neutron to reorganize from time to time so that it wouldn't spill over.

"Let me get you something to drink," Judy offered. Cindy hesitated. On the one hand, a drink would necessitate her staying even longer in this awkward situation. On the other, she felt like a jerk for even considering leaving Mrs. Neutron alone when she was in this state.

"Sure," Cindy finally said after a pause.

"Have you taken Carl's parents his homework as well?" Judy called from the kitchen.

"Yes, ma'am. And Libby's dropping off Sheen's right now." _Not that Sheen ever really bothered to do it when he _was _here_, Cindy thought. She muttered a thanks when Judy handed her a lemonade.

"Still no ideas on where they could be?"

And that was exactly what Cindy had been hoping to avoid. The conversation it always turned to with the Neutrons, Wheezers and Mr. Estevez. Where were the boys? No one had seen them go missing. And Jimmy's lab had somehow retracted itself into the ground with no way for the girls or any of the parents to get into it. Goddard had apparently been taken as well. It was like they'd all just ...disappeared.

_If I could get into the lab, I might be able to do _something. _Neutron had to be so stupidly secretive about that. _Cindy frowned. She had been doing a good job today of keeping her mind off of the situation, but now it was impossible.

She shook her head firmly. "No leads since last time, Mrs. Neutron. I'm sorry. I've been racking my head for days, trying to remember if Jimmy had mentioned something. But if he did, I can't remember it."

"That's all right. I'm sorry for all the pressure we're putting on you and Libby. It's sweet of you girls to bring by their homework every day. I suppose you need to head home to get to work on your own though, right?"

Cindy nodded, but it was a lie. She'd gotten her homework finished during recess, just as she had done since the day after the boys disappeared. She and Libby had both felt too down to play, and besides, for the last few months they'd spent every recess with Carl, Sheen and Jimmy. Their absence was too keen for the girls to feel up to jumping rope. "I'll just be going now," Cindy said, reaching for the door and trying to exit quickly enough this time.

She didn't make it. As always, when she glanced back, Mrs. Neutron was crying.

* * *

"It's just...girl...I feel like there's a hint and we're missing it," Libby let herself collapse onto Cindy's bed. "The lab going into the ground was weird enough, but why haven't they reached us? Didn't Jimmy like, hack into Carl's computer last time something like this happened? Or they could call my cell?" Libby checked her cell phone again. She did that even more often these days, often ten or fifteen times an hour.

"I wish we could stop talking about it," Cindy sighed as she looked up from her paper. She'd been writing down everything she could think of that would explain the situation. She erased vampires, embarrassed that such an idea had ever occurred to her.

"Me too, but it's not going to go away until we find them."

Cindy nodded her agreement then pushed herself up from her chair, pacing around. "Ok, so Goddard's out of the equation so no hope in tracking him or using his tracking capabilities to find the boys. That just leaves Vox..."

"Who is completely under ground and we can't even get to the point where she asks us for a password, so we have no way to access her. I know the adults were trying to figure it out too for a long time, like they did when we were on Intergalactic Showdown. No luck for them, either. Face it, Cindy. We've run the same ideas so far into the ground they're with the lab now."

"We can't give up!"

"I'm not saying to give up. I'm saying it's hopeless."

"How is that different from giving up?"

Libby sighed. "Because we don't have a hope to cling to, but we're going to keep trying anyway. Isn't that the definition of crazy?"

"Technically, that's trying the same experiment over and over again in the same way, expecting different results."

Libby crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "And that is different from this situation how?"

"Fair enough. I guess we are being a little crazy, but gas planets, we have to do something!"

In spite of the situation, despite how awful she felt, Libby couldn't help but laugh. "You just said gas planets! Oh my gosh, Jimmy really got to you, didn't he?"

"I did not say that."

"Umm...ya kinda did, girlfriend."

"If we ever find them and you tell them I said that, I will end you."

"Sure you will. But back to the point," Libby was glad for that moment of levity, but unfortunately it was necessary to be serious right now. "Have you contacted the military? NASA?"

"Yes and yes. Both told me they had no involvement with Jimmy. They didn't sound irritated, so I can only assume they weren't lying. Libs, what are we missing?"

"Other than the boys?"

"I mean what are we missing that could help us find them. But yes, I miss them. ...even Carl. And Sheen, a little. I actually watched an episode of Ultra Lord last night. Ultra Lord, Libby!" Before she realized what she was doing, Cindy had grabbed Libby by the shoulders and was shaking her. "I miss all of them and I never thought I would."

"C'mon, you had to have known you'd miss Jimmy." Libby rolled her eyes when Cindy just shrugged. "And whether you want to admit it or not, Sheen and Carl were your friends."

"Were?"

"Are! Are!" Libby back peddled. "Ugh, they haven't been gone that long and I'm already talking in past tense. I'm sorry, I know that was upsetting. They're out there. They're still our friends. And Cindy? We _are_ going to find them."

"I know we will," Cindy nodded. "but how long is it going to take?"


	2. Into the Dungeon

**Author's note: **I thought I had every angle plotted out for how people might respond to "why didn't they do x". For whatever reason, I had actually not considered why they wouldn't file a missing persons report. Touché, The J.A.M.

Jimmy didn't know where he was or how long he'd been there. He was certain Sheen and Carl had been taken at the same time, but they'd been separated sometime after all three of the boys had been knocked out. The last thing Jimmy remembered was Vox letting out a klaxon warning that something was wrong with the core of the lab and that a meltdown was imminent. Jimmy remembered trying to push the guys out of the lab so he could deal with it, but as soon as all of them were outside of the clubhouse, they were all knocked out. At least, he had to assume the other two had been knocked out. Jimmy had fell unconscious without being able to check on his friends.

It was completely dark, wherever he was. Once a day a cube of gelatinous quality and with a hideous odor was slid into the room. There was never any light when the door opened, and it opened too quietly for him to realize someone was coming. The first time the cube had arrived, it bore the note "eat me". When Jimmy ignored it, other notes came. One explaining that the cube was a Nutrient Pack, supposedly able to sustain humans completely on just one a day, even replacing the need for water. After what he assumed was multiple days without food and water (for the passing of time was also impossible to place), Jimmy had chanced the cube. It hadn't seemed to have any ill effects on him.

"Pukin' Pluto, who could have done this?" Jimmy paced back and forth. Whomever his captors were, they knew him well enough to take his watch, his hover shoes and his backpack. Without those tools or the benefit of Goddard, there was little the genius could do to figure out an escape. This had all been carefully calculated.

The cube never arrived at the same time – Jimmy had no way to measure time except a vague ringing that, he guessed, occurred once a day (suspecting he was on an alien planet, it was beyond him to place it at a certain time, even just a day. Time was relative, so who knew if it worked the same here as it did on earth?). The first two days, the cube had seemed to arrived at the same time – at his calculation, about an hour after the ringing. He had waited by the door on the third day at the time he thought the food should have arrived, but apparently his perception was either wrong or someone had figured out his awareness and changed things. That time, the food arrived when he went to sleep.

As was his typical practice, he edged along the walls, groping at them to try to ascertain if there was anything there that could be used for escape. He was definitely in some sort of dungeon with rock like walls – limestone, he guessed. Too sturdy and thick for him to ever hope to punch through. He couldn't find any holes in the walls, either. "I guess this time I just have to hope someone else does the rescuing."

* * *

Sheen and Carl were not faring much better, though at least they had each other. "They took my belt!" Sheen said for what had to have been the eightieth time, by Carl's estimate. "That was a special edition Ultra Lord utility belt, and they stole it. This will be avenged! AVENGED, DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Sheen, we'll get it back when Jimmy comes to rescue us. Do you want your food cube?" Carl eyed Sheen's food hungrily. "That note said that one is supposed to be anything we need, but I'm still hungry."

Sheen rolled his eyes, but passed Carl the cube anyway. Carl had to sit very still and not get overly excited – his inhaler had gone missing as well. "Who takes an inhaler, anyway?" Sheen crossed his arms, though Carl could barely see him. They had some light in the cell, given off by some phosphorous lichen on the walls. Mysteriously, these would go out right before the food arrived. Neither of the boys had a watch, so they had no greater luck than Jimmy in figuring out how long they'd been captive.

"Do you think Judy misses me-I mean us?" Carl looked hopefully at Sheen.

"Jimmy's mom? Yeah, probably. She might miss Jimmy more than us, though. I'm more worried about my dad. And Libby. And I've probably missed at least three new episodes of Ultra Lord by now. How am I supposed to know if he ever beat the Harpies of Romlan Five?!"

"I think we may have more to worry about than missing Ultra Lord."

"Bite your tongue!"

"No. I mean. We've been gone a long time, and Jimmy hasn't come for us yet."

Sheen considered it momentarily. "Which means they've got Jimmy locked up somewhere, too. Carl, can you think of any way for us to get out of here? Let's show everyone we're not just the side kicks. That we can do anything when the chips are down!"

"Um...ok. But there's no door or windows."

"Well, I'm out of ideas," Sheen said, plopping down beside Carl. "Guess it's time to just sit still and wait to be rescued."

* * *

"And that's how photosynthesis woooo-rrr-ksss! Bawk!" Miss Fowl finished, then paused. As always, she was waiting for Carl or Sheen to misunderstand the lesson or for Jimmy or Cindy to add their own take or mention some detail she'd forgotten. The boys weren't here, though, and Cindy was too distracted these days to put in any extra effort in class.

"Well, that's uh...that's the fastest I've ever gotten through our lessons," Miss Fowl rubbed the back of her neck. She'd been planning her lessons with the assumption that Jimmy would either interrupt the lesson or else cause some destruction that would necessitate school shutting down. Now she found she didn't have enough lessons to fill the day. "All right, children. Uh...start your homework, I guess."

"Even _I'm_ done with my homework already," Nick complained. "Can't we watch a video or something?"

A few kids voiced their assent. Cindy looked suddenly interested, a fact that was not lost on Libby. "What are you thinking, girl?"

Cindy smiled. "That everyone's usually too busy watching movies for them to notice if we sneak out."

"I already have ten demerits for the last time we left class during a video. And I doubt we're going to get to do something cool like go see Egypt this time." Libby and Cindy were both whispering, the fact that their desks were so close to Miss Fowl's making it seem all the riskier.

Cindy gave Libby a pleading look. "Oh, all right, I guess if it could help the guys it's worth a few demerits. But if it turns out Carl's right about permanent records existing, I'm knocking their heads around for a bit."

Miss Fowl had chosen a documentary, which was all the more perfect, in Cindy's mind. After all, it was more likely to put the other kids to sleep and make them less likely to rat Libby and Cindy out. She waited it out. Sure enough, the documentary acted as a soporific, instantly rendering most of the class asleep (and no wonder, as the documentary was on nothing but the origins of toilet paper, and Cindy was almost positive it was Bill Stein narrating). Once Miss Fowl's head hit the desk, she and Libby tip toed out of the room and made a break for the front door.

Luck was on their side this time, as no hall monitors or even Principal Willoughby spotted them. "Where are we even going, Cindy?"

"I still haven't figured that part out yet. But we need to run by Neutron's house."

"Jimmy's place? Why?"

Cindy sighed. "Because if we can get Vox out of the ground, we're still going to need hair for the DNA scanner."

"That's a pretty big if."

"Yeah, but it's still one of the steps we have to take. We're just doing it ...really out of order."


	3. Mission

"Jimmy's mom is a stay at home mother, right?" Libby asked, keeping her voice down. She knew it was ridiculous, but cutting out early made her nervous. She kept expecting to run into a cop or her own mother.

"Yeah, so?"

"So she's probably home right now. Are you going to sneak in? I mean, she might tell your mom about us cutting class. How are we going to get in without her seeing us?"

"Since she's home all day and Retroville's crime rate isn't that high, she keeps the door unlocked."

"How do you know that?"

"...I just know, ok? We'll go through the front door - Jimmy told me she's usually working in the garage around this time. If we run into her...we'll deal with it when or if it happens. Just be very quiet."

Both Cindy and Libby felt like the porch of the Neutron's house was squeaking with every step. Of course, the truth was that the girls were being perfectly silent other than turning to one another every few moments to shush each other, both of them convinced the other girl was too loud. Cindy had been right. The door was not locked. They both let out a sigh of relief when they saw that Mrs. Neutron did not appear to be in the living room.

"Ok, we just have to go up to Jimmy's room and see if he has any hairs there."

"Have you ever been in Jimmy's room?" Libby asked, with a little more curiosity than Cindy would have liked. Cindy rolled her eyes.

"No, I have never been in Neutron's room. And this is an emergency, or I'd never go in there now. Have you ever been in Sheen's room?"

"Of course not!"

"Then how did you know he has Ultra Lord covers?"

"It's Sheen. Everything he owns is Ultra Lord themed. Even his shampoo."

"How did you know it was the one where he's fighting his evil twin, then?"

"...shut up." Libby frowned at her friend, but followed her up the stairs, both of them resuming their tip toe walk. It seemed to take forever to reach the top, but they made their way to his room without any incidents.

"Ok, so he must have a hair brush around here somewhere..." Cindy looked around, starting with the dresser. "How is this place such a mess?! He hasn't even been here for a month."

"I don't see a hair brush. I'll check the bathroom."

Cindy nodded her agreement, resuming her search for anything that might hold one of Jimmy's hairs. She checked under his bed – nothing. As she rose to her feet, something caught her eye. On Jimmy's bed side table was a picture of her, apparently from when she had been on the news program with the other kids, judging by the outfit. In spite of everything, she allowed herself a small smile.

"Nothing. Looks like he has some sort of machine that does his hair, but I couldn't find any actual hairs in it." Libby hung her head in defeat as she came out to join Cindy. "You're right, though, how does he have this many shirts laying around? And pants...pants everywhere. How hard is it to pick them up?"

"Hard enough he had to create a microchip to make them hang themselves."

"Ugh, do not even remind me of that day," Libby shuddered. "I never want to see those boys in their underwear ever again."

Cindy suddenly went very still. "Clothes...his clothes!"

"Yeaaaaah," Libby said slowly. "we're in Jimmy's room, so all of the clothes here are his. And I don't think they've been washed in a while."

Cindy grabbed one of the shirts and checked the collar. No luck. She moved onto the next one and then one after that – the third one was the lucky one. She held up a brown hair triumphantly. "One step closer to the boys."

"Yeah, but we still have to figure out the first step."

"I'm working on it."

Cindy had her head down as she pondered over what to do next, which is why she didn't realize that she was about to run straight into Mrs. Neutron. Cindy fell back, but Libby caught her. Mrs. Neutron stood at the bottom of the stairs, gazing at the girls in a startled manner.

"Um...hi, Mrs. Neutron."

"Shouldn't you girls be in school?"

"Early release," Libby suggested. "You know how it is. The teachers have to prepare for the next time aliens attack, or a meteor is about to crash. Or any other world is about to end kind of thing."

Cindy held back an eye roll, and reminded herself to tell Libby later she was spending too much time with Sheen. "We're just trying to find ways to get them back."

"Girls, you don't have to do all that. Though I do wonder why you thought the answer might be in Jimmy's room?" Mrs. Neutron paused, waiting for an answer.

"Can't leave any stone unturned," Cindy laughed, but winced at how unnatural it sounded.

Judy sighed. "Do you want something to eat? You should probably stay here until school ends. Cindy, I know your mother would be incredibly upset if she found out you'd left school early."

Cindy had to admit that she was right. There was no way her mother would be okay with this if she found out. It was likely Cindy would be grounded for weeks on end, and that would take even more time away from finding Jimmy and the others.

"Thanks, Mrs. Neutron," Cindy went to sit in the kitchen with Libby following close after.

"Ah, Cindy, Libby!" Hugh was sitting at the kitchen table already, absently pushing his pie around the plate. "Good of you to come see us. This uh...this pie's good..." he hadn't touched more than a bite, by Cindy's estimate. The same worried look over came both girls' faces. The one thing they really knew about Hugh Neutron was that the man loved his pie.

"Mr. Neutron, I thought you usually worked at this time?" Libby asked, sliding into a chair at the table.

"Sugar booger needs me home sometimes these days. With uh...with Jim-Jam..." he trailed off and stared intently at his pie. "It's boysenberry apple. One of my favorites. Really good. You should take a few bites."

"Are you all right, Mr. Neutron?" Cindy finally asked. She knew better. She knew he wasn't. But if Judy was reacting poorly, Hugh seemed completely on another planet by comparison.

"Oh, yes. Just gotta look on the bright side," he considered it for a few moments. "Haven't had to buy a new toaster for a few weeks."

"Toaster?" Cindy repeated. "Toaster..."

"Toaster?" Libby was asking both Hugh, because she wasn't certain what it had to do with anything, and Cindy whose face had suddenly lit up. Libby wasn't sure she liked the look in Cindy's eyes right now. It often meant trouble.

"Yeah. Our Jimmy kept using them for his inventions. And satellites. I'm sorry, girls. I guess I don't have much to say." He forced himself to swallow another bite of pie. "Did you want a slice?"

"No, Mr. Neutron," Cindy hopped up from her chair. "Libby and I have to get going."

"Actually, I don't think I'd mind a slice -" Libby started, but Cindy grabbed her by the arm and yanked her up.

"As I was saying, none for us, thanks. And thank you for letting us stay over." Cindy glanced at the clock. _Good. It's close enough to three that I can make it home without it looking suspicious. _She thought to herself, continuing to pull Libby after her. When they left the Neutron's, Cindy continued to drag Libby in the direction of the Vortex house, almost not remembering to look both ways before they crossed the street.

"Girl, can we please slow down?! What is gong on and why couldn't it wait until after a slice of pie?" A sudden realization hit Libby. "You've got an idea on how to find the boys!"

"I've got an idea on how to start the process. Whether or not it will work...we'll have to see."


	4. Progress

"Okay, now you have to tell me what toasters have to do with anything. You pulled my arm so hard I think you popped it out of the socket."

"Sorry, Libs," Cindy practically jumped into her computer chair, booting up the computer and mentally cursing it taking so long to turn on. In reality, it was only a few seconds, but each second mattered right now. "C'mon, load you stupid piece of junk!"

Libby checked her cell phone again, just to be certain. "Still no calls. So, what are you doing? Looking online for a toaster? I mean...I still don't see how that's gonna help us get the guys back."

Cindy's computer loaded. "Yes! Finally!" she immediately started keying in long streams of numbers and letters that to Libby didn't seem like real words. "Okay, what kind of password would he use...Goddard?"

"Password? What password? Are you going to take any time to explain this to me?"

Cindy finally looked away from her computer. "Neutron sent out a lot of those toasters as communications satellites."

"Yes, I caught that part. Still not following you, though."

"So, in order to receive a response he has to have a system set up to collect those messages, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure that was Vox's job."

"Right, but remember that Neutron has an antenna on top of the lab. I'm willing to wager that it helps with picking up those signals. The antenna retracted along with the rest of the lab, but maybe if we can trick Vox into thinking there's an alien transmission, we can get her out of the ground to receive the message."

"Oh, I get it. But aren't you making this more complicated than it needs to be?"

"What?"

"You're trying to hack into Jimmy's satellite, right?" Cindy nodded, not following Libby's reasoning. "Wouldn't it be easier to create a message for one of the satellites to intercept? I mean, Jimmy's a genius, I doubt he's going to make the password something really easy to guess."

"That's brilliant, Libby!" Cindy whirled her chair back around to her computer. "Okay, just gotta go through here...then here...Libby, let me see your cell phone!"

"Why does it always involve my phone when you guys make calls through outer space?" Libby complained, but handed the phone over anyway. Cindy plugged it in to a USB cable. "Do you know how much my parents have to pay for intergalactic calling? They make me do extra chores to pay for it!"

"Sorry," Cindy looked only slightly remorseful. She finished her line of coding, then hit the send button on the cell phone. "And now we wait..." She grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked out across to the Neutron's back yard, holding her breathe. "Libby!"

Libby pushed Cindy aside to get a look. "It's the lab! It's coming back up!" The two girls hugged. "Still have that hair?"

"Yep. That's two steps down. We're going to get them back, Libby!" They almost tripped over each other in their race to get back across the street to Jimmy's lab. _Hold on, guys _Cindy thought to herself. _We're coming._

* * *

Jimmy still couldn't figure out why the light only came on when he had a note to read. He knew his captors wanted him to read the notes, but he couldn't find a light source. He checked the latest note.

_Given up hope yet? _The latest note read. "Never!" Jimmy shouted at the cell, certain he was being watched. After the notes regarding the nutrient cubes had stopped, the next notes always contained something antagonizing. The last one had said _We have your friends._ While he was certain it wasn't a lie, he couldn't do anything about it. He was worried, of course, but he couldn't seem to form an idea for a solution.

"Think...there has to be some solution. The lights only come on whenever these ...people, I guess, want me to be able to see something. There's no source I can see the light generated from, and the door has stopped opening at all, or else they only come when I sleep. ...wait. Light with no source. Meldar! He has to be involved in this. But we took his generators away, so is it really him? I suppose another being could craft matrix generators." Jimmy laid down, and would be staring at the ceiling if only he could see it. "If I could figure out who's doing this, maybe I'd have a hope of finding out how to get out of this."

* * *

"By the time we get out of here," Sheen said, tapping experimentally at one of the lichen, "Libby will already be married and Ultra Lord will have something like twenty seasons for me to catch up on. But on the bright side, I suppose I will be old enough for Beautiful Gorgeous."

"Won't she also be twenty years older?"

Sheen made a face. "Yeah, you're right. Who likes older women, anyway?"

Carl avoided eye contact. "I'm bored. I counted all those mushroom things three times each day. And you've told me the plot line of Ultra Lord episodes one through one hundred and twenty."

"There are still seven hundred more to go. Let's see, in episode one hundred and twenty one-"

"Don't, Sheen. I'm tired of Ultra Lord."

"He who is tired of Ultra Lord is tired of life."

"I miss Jimmy. He'd get us out of this."

Sheen nodded his agreement, continuing to push on the lichen until it suddenly fell to the floor. "Whoops. Poked it too hard that time. Hey, wait a minute...do mushrooms usually have wires?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe the ones from Singapore?"

"Well, I don't think we're in Singapore, Carl. But maybe we can use this to make our escape!"

"How?"

"Well, Jimmy could rewire it in some way that would blow up our cave and let us out -"

"Jimmy's not here, Sheen."

"...I keep forgetting," Sheen stared at the wires. "But maybe we can figure out something?"

Carl considered it momentarily. "I guess we got nothing better to do."


	5. Flight

"Hey, Carl, can you hold this wire for me?" Sheen gestured at a blue wire he'd managed to pull out from behind where the lichen had fell. Carl moved to oblige, but dropped the wire almost immediately after he made contact with it.

"Ouch! Sheen, that hurt!"

"What hurt?"

"The wire! It shocked me. That wasn't funny!"

Sheen grabbed the wire and held it experimentally, studying it. "Doesn't hurt me. Maybe it just doesn't like you."

"Sheen, your hair's standing up...it's spikier than usual."

"Huh," Sheen put a hand to his hair. "Oh, right! I'm being shocked right now!"

"Doesn't that hurt?"

"No, I haven't been able to feel shocks for the past half a year – not after all that shocky candy Jimmy made that one time."

"I saw you get shocked after that!"

"Not after I'd eaten it _all_. I finished it months ago. So now I don't feel shocks. ...but I do have a blue taste in my mouth." Sheen yanked again at the wire again. This time, the wall seemed to crack above the hole. He tugged at it once more, and the crack grew. "Well, it's all we got..."

* * *

"Has anyone checked in on the side kicks?" King Goobot asked, putting his metal hands together. He and the newly reformed League of Villains sat around a long table with Goobot at its head. He'd only re-banded the group a few months ago, but he'd made some new additions as well.

"Nope."

"No."

"Nu-huh."

"I thought that was your job!"

Goobot sighed at the reactions from around the table (and two from on top of the table). "Very well, we'll worry about that later. Is the robot still contained?"

Meldar leaned back from his chair. "I told you I took care of it. He can't even move, much less give any help to the jelly bags."

"Marvelous!" Goobot declared.

"Yo, Calamitous!" Baby Eddie interrupted. "When's Gorgeous gonna show up?"

"She's on her uh..." Calamitous's voice suddenly got very quiet. "Her uh...honey moon with the Junk Man."

"Sheesh, eww. Forget I asked!"

"Gentlemen, if we can attend to more pressing matters," Eustace Strych attempted to get the meeting back on track. "I still believe Neutron's dog should be handed over to me. And what are we waiting for with Neutron, anyway? Can't we just come to some agreement regarding his demise?"

"No! He has to be made to suffer!" Meldar slammed a fist against the table. "First he loses everything, then we kill him."

"I agree, but why are we waiting to long to make a move?" Eddie asked. "I mean, we've got the simpletons, we've got the dog and we've got Jimmy. What are we waiting on, an engraved invitation?"

"We're waiting on the girls," Grandma Taters said serenely, before her voice darkened and eyes started to glow. "Especially that little blonde one that got in my way!"

"Why didn't we just grab Cynthia and Elizabeth to begin with?" Eustace asked.

"They weren't at the lab that day," Goobot explained. "And that was _supposed_ to be the nanobots job!"

"Hey," the orange N-1 nanobot griped, "I had everything under control. ...Until he messed it all up!" he pointed at the other nanobot.

"I did nothing of the sort!"

"Please, we checked the logs," Eddie interrupted. "You were both so busy arguing over the captain's chair in that new nanosaucer I made you that you didn't notice the girls were gone already."

"Why don't we just go get them now?" Calamitous suggested.

"Because we didn't get them all at once," Goobot explained. "By the time we realized that _someone_" he glared at both nanobots, "Had failed their mission, the town was already aware of the disappearance of Neutron and his two dimwits. It would be risky to grab them now."

"Besides," Meldar continued were Goobot left off. "the girls will be on their way to us if they're able."

"So?" Eustace asked. "Are we just waiting for them to thwart us?"

"No. Either they'll make it up here," Meldar held one hand out, "or they can't find a way here at all. So either they have no way to rescue the other jellybags or..." he brought his hands together. "They come running to aid and we squash them, too. And make Jimmy watch."

"You are deliciously evil!" Goobot clapped his appreciation. "And definitely a welcome addition to our team! You know, Intergalactic Showdown was my favorite show."

"Yeah, mine too," Meldar said darkly. "And I'll be bringing it back and making sure Earth is the first planet destroyed."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Calamitous interrupted. "For one, I still live on Earth..."

"And all my nice things are there!" Eustace chimed in.

"Fine, fine. We get rid of Jimmy, you two get your stuff packed but _then_ I'm destroying Earth."

"Are you sure you won't consider a rampaging chicken god?" Ooblar finally piped up. "Much more artistic than just blowing a planet up."

"But not nearly as final."

* * *

It was a good thing Libby was in shape, or she'd be huffing and puffing about now. After getting the lab back up, Cindy had suddenly insisted they dash back to Sheen, then Carl, then Jimmy's house to gather clothes for the boys as well as to pack the hyper cube with food and drinks from Libby and then Cindy's kitchen.

"Can't we slow down? We haven't even seen if Vox knows where the boys are!"

"In just a minute, we still need to..." Cindy lost her train of thought. "Ok, we have clothes, food, I packed sleeping bags, toothbrushes, toothpaste..."

"We need to make sure we are even going to be able to get to them! We're getting ahead of ourselves again."

"You're right," Cindy finally stopped moving around. The girls were back at Jimmy's lab, both staring at the front rather than taking the steps to move into the clubhouse entrance. "What if this doesn't work?"

"It's going to."

"All right," Cindy pulled Jimmy's hair from her pocket and scanned it. "Here we go."

"_DNA match confirmed. Welcome, Jimmy." _Vox announced as Cindy and Libby entered. _"Meltdown contained and lab scrubbed._"

"Meltdown?" Cindy repeated. "Shouldn't there have been some sort of damage or leak from a meltdown?"

"Well, she said the place was scrubbed."

"But who would have scrubbed it? It shouldn't have given that message if Jimmy has come in _after _the meltdown happened. And there's nothing here that seems like it could have been recently contained. Everything's just sort of out in the open."

"Mystery for another day, Cind."

"I guess," Cindy sat down at Jimmy's computer and started typing.

_New message received! _Flashed on the screen. Cindy opened it and wasn't surprised to see that it was her message with the simple note 'testing' on it. "Vox? Uh...could you find Jimmy?"

"_No match for 'Jimmy' in search parameters." _

"How about Sheen?" Libby suggested.

"_Subject Sheen Estevez...tracking..."_

"Of course Neutron wouldn't have a way to track himself. I just hope the guys are all together, then." Cindy waited impatiently for Vox to turn up a match. A giant X appeared on the screen.

"_Subject Estevez out of range."_

"Darn it!" Libby crossed her arms, trying to think. "What about Goddard? Vox! Could you track Goddard?"

"_Attempting to locate Goddard..."_

Cindy considered it. "I guess that's probably a better shot. Goddard should have the kind of equipment that will actually pick up the signal. ...If we're lucky."

"_Goddard located," _The X on the screen suddenly transformed into a star map. _"Goddard located on Planet Primus."_

"Primus? I've never heard of Primus..." Cindy pondered it aloud. "Vox, do you have any information on Primus?"

"_Primus is the home world of the Prime Networkians. Primary industry was previously network television, specifically _Intergalactic Showdown. _Current industry...ranching."_

"Ranching?" Libby blinked in confusion, but Cindy was back to pacing.

"So that means Meldar Prime _has _to be involved in all of this."

"Girls?" It was the second time that day that Mrs. Neutron had snuck up on the girls, but this time had their hearts pounding even worse. Cindy thought hers was going to jump out of her chest. "How did you manage to get in here?"

"Luck, mostly," Libby explained.

"Mrs. Neutron...we have to get them back."

"I'm going with you."

"How?" Cindy said reasonably. Libby tried to inch herself away from the conversation. It wasn't really like Cindy to talk back to grown ups, especially not ones as kind as Judy Neutron.

"What do you mean how?! My son is up there!"

"I mean how," Cindy repeated. "Sure, we can take the space car that Jimmy got from Intergalactic Showdown and you'd fit in there with us, but then what? We don't know how much space we'll need for this, Mrs. Neutron."

"Your parents will never forgive me if I let you go into this yourselves. If we lost you two as well!"

Libby sucked in a deep breath to keep herself from gasping – she'd just noticed that Cindy had the shrink ray hidden behind her back. "I know that's true, Mrs. Neutron. But I also know that if you come with us things will be harder. I've set the computer up for transmission so you can keep checking in on us."

"I am going with you girls!"

"No," Cindy said sadly, "you're not. I'm sorry about this," she aimed the shrink ray and fired, shrinking Mrs. Neutron down to the size of a mouse. "This will wear off in an hour. I'm sorry again," Cindy placed Mrs. Neutron on the computer keyboard. "But we really do need someone to be here on Earth as a contact in case things get rough, and you're the only adult that can handle all the technical stuff. ...Bye."

"You are going to be so grounded when she tells your mom," Libby shook her head. "I can't believe you just shrunk her!"

"I wasn't lying, we do need a contact here in case we need support or need an alert or if Jimmy somehow finds his way home!"

"I know you weren't lying, girl, but I still feel bad about that. Let's just get out of here before she's back to size. Do we have everything we need?"

Cindy sighed. "Probably not. We're about to fly off into the unknown to a planet that one of our worst enemies is from and the only weapons we have, Neutron made. This is probably the stupidest thing we've ever done."

Libby shrugged. "Yep." Libby threw her things into the Intergalactic Showdown car. Most of hers and Cindy's things were packed in the hyper cube, but she had been unwilling to put food in there for hygienic concerns and she wanted easier access to her phone, computer and mp3 player than the hyper cube afforded.

"Okay," Cindy got comfortable behind the wheel. "Vox, open roof!" the computer obliged and Cindy started the engine. "All right...let's light this candle!"


	6. Call for Aid

**Author's Note: **As always, thanks for reading and reviewing. Since the Brains didn't have any names in the movie (that I heard) I've given the one that appears a name. And I think, unfortunately, that jealousy is just a character flaw of Cindy's that is going to take a long time for her to over come. Ok, here we go!

"_This is silly. I don't have time for this, I think-"_

"_What?" Cindy crossed her arms. "You think you'll discover cold fusion on that night? We went to a dance together once already-"_

"_You went with me _and_ Timmy Turner."_

"_We still have gone to a dance as a couple before," Cindy had heard the arguments multiple times, but at the end of the day, she was more stubborn than Jimmy. "C'mon, Jimmy. Please?" _

_Jimmy sighed. "All right. But it's a fancy dance, do I really have to-" He stopped when he saw the expression on her face. Cindy didn't know what made him change his mind so rapidly in that moment, but he stopped talking and kissed her. "Fine. I'll dress up." He said after he pulled away._

* * *

"Girl, you are a million miles away right now. What were you thinking about?"

Cindy blushed. "Umm...nothing." She didn't want to discuss her and Jimmy's plans to go to the spring formal together, not even with Libby. Especially not with it being just one more week away. Who knew if they'd even get him by then. _Or get him back at all... _Cindy tried to shoo the thought away.

"Whatever. Are we getting any closer to Goddard?"

Cindy checked the ship's computer. "Probably about another hour. Gotta hand it to Meldar. He was a horrible, manipulative, evil creep but at least this ship's fast. Still not worth almost having a planet destroyed, of course, but..." she trailed off.

"So what do we do when we get to Primus? I know you set up a link to Vox on your phone and that will go through your GPS, but we don't know if any of the other ummm...Primans? Primusians? ...whatever the aliens are -"

"We're the ones going to their planet, technically, we're the aliens."

"Whatever! We don't know if they'll recognize us and what they might do to us. We've gotten lucky so far, Cindy, but we can't keep relying on that. If we get captured then we won't have any way of getting the boys and since we have the only ship large enough to fit adults, there's no way for anyone else to get us."

"I know, I know. I just..." Cindy sighed. "When it comes to Jimmy, I guess sometimes I leap before I look. But I'm scared, Libby. If we don't get to them soon, I just know things will be bad. I know we should plan this out and think it through, but the problem is I don't know what to plan for. I know nothing about this planet, not even Jimmy does."

"We could call someone with more experience."

"Like who?"

Libby cocked her head to the side and frowned at Cindy. "You know exactly who I'm talking about. You already won, girl. Jimmy's yours. There's no reason to keep being jealous."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cindy pretended to need to concentrate on piloting the ship, even though both she and Libby were well aware it was currently on auto pilot. In response, Libby reached over and pushed the auto pilot button off. "Hey, what are you doing?!" Cindy grabbed for the controls and started to press auto pilot again, but her finger hovered there a moment.

"You are my best friend, Cindy. But that also means I get to be the only one who can tell you when you're wrong and you actually have to listen."

"But I-"

"Cindy. For the guys?"

"All right. For the guys," Cindy pulled out her cell phone and pulled the GPS tracking app up. "Vox? Umm...find the planet Gorlock. Even though that will probably put us way off track..." she mumbled the last part.

"_Planet Gorlock found_," Vox responded after a minute of silence. "_Would you like to set a course?_"

Cindy glanced at Libby, as though pleading for permission not to do this. Libby nodded her head. "Yes. Set course. And try to find April, if you can."

"_Course for Gorlock set. Estimated arrival time: three hours. April located – subject beta pinged to inform of arrival. Anything else, Jimmy?"_

"I still can't believe he doesn't have voice recognition on Vox," Libby smirked. "And what's a beta ping?"

"Some system Jimmy was working on for across space and dimension messaging. So she's going to be expecting Jimmy to come. Not us."

"She'll help us, Cindy."

"I know, I know. I don't have to like it, though."

* * *

April checked her tricorder when she heard the message go off. "Jimmy Neutron?" she read the name aloud with a mix of excitement and just a little bit of sadness. She had been quite fond of the Earthling, after all, and kind of hurt to find out he was now dating the same girl he had insisted he had no interest in back when April had first met him on Intergalactic Showdown.

"April? Your attention is still required for the current line up, and we have a few requests to be considered," one of the Brains, this particular one by the name of Ambrose, had been appointed along with April to the board for directing line ups for Intergalactic cable.

"Requests?"

"Yes, it was your suggestion that we start taking requests. All though you did mention something about attacking anyone who suggested reality programming..."

"Oh. Right. What kind of requests?"

"A request for Ultra Lord that is still pending a response from an Earth advisor, seeing as when we got him on the video line his response was to scream 'this is just like that movie I saw' and then passed out, some fans are petitioning for some cartoon about a boy genius that was canceled way before its time to come back and oh...oh, dear, this is certainly something that can't be done. How did this request even get here?"

"What?"

"See for yourself," Ambrose looked at the paper in front of him. April grabbed for it and examined it.

"A request to bring back _Intergalactic Showdown_?! Who would be so foolish as to request such a thing?!"

"Read the back. That part doesn't read so much as a request."

April obeyed and flipped the paper around. While the front page had apparently been written by (rather messy) hand, the back page had been typed.

_To whom it may concern:_

_This is a letter to warn you that you are to vacate your positions immediately. Intergalactic Showdown will be put back on the air and everyone now serving on the Entertainment Board will be sentenced to death, preferably on live television._

_I send you this letter to give you a warning so that you may have a head start. We will be arriving soon. I won't give you a date or time, but it will be soon. _

_And this time, there won't be any jellybags there to save you._

_Yours,_

_Meldar Prime_

"He wishes to do battle? With us?" April snorted. "He will fall again easily. I have to go, though. An old friend is coming through the arrival terminal soon and I would like to see him as soon as he arrives. And he can help us with taking Meldar down, yet again."

"Oh, and you think I'm just going to retool all these shows myself?" Ambrose asked, but sighed before she could answer. "My people are psychic, April, I already know I'm going to have to. Go have fun, but for this I'm adding six extra episodes of Will Rye, the Science Guy into the programming."

* * *

"Is it done yet?" Carl asked.

"I don't even know what I'm doing, so I don't know when I'll be done." Sheen answered, continuing to tug on the wire he'd found from the lichen. The lights flickered off, and he stopped what he was doing. The lights reappeared, and a nutrient cube appeared, one for each of them. "So they don't notice what we're doing?"

"I don't know. Maybe they just don't care," Carl took one cube over to Sheen before swallowing his own whole.

"Maybe," Sheen agreed, "But they shouldn't take two out of the three amigops seriously." Sheen took a bite out of his cube. "Man, what I wouldn't give for a bowl of Ultra Lord Sugar Pops right now. The ones with the tiny alien marshmallows." He stuck a finger in the crack that had formed in the wall. "I think this is hollow!"

"But where does it go?"

"Carl, I don't even know where _we_ are or if I'm dreaming. Though the lack of supermodels tells me it's probably not a dream."

"I always dream about chocolate and pizza and salmon and Jimmy's mo-...nothing!"

If Sheen found the answer odd, he didn't say anything. "I think I might be able to squeeze in here if I keep pushing at it."

Fact was, Sheen was almost positive he could fit. But he didn't know if there was any possibility he could make the space large enough for Carl to fit through. And at least for right now, he was not going to use a plan that would force him to abandon his friend.


	7. Common Enemy

**Author's Note: **Writing bad lyrics is fun. Sorry this took a while, I got distracted with other fandoms but I have every intention of finishing this story. Thanks for all the reads, reviews, favorites and alerts. Constructive criticism is always appreciated!

"_Girl, this galaxy is a waste, girl I could give you a taste of all the things that you're missin'," _Libby had a nice voice, but Cindy was starting to find it grating after the third straight hour of Libby singing nonstop. "_and ooh, baby, it's a galactic roller coaster, but this world gonna be our oyster and-"_

Cindy turned the radio off. Libby glared at her, but Cindy shook her head. "The world's 'gonna be our oyster'? Seriously, Libby?"

"Just cause you're mad we've gotta go see April doesn't mean you can take it out on Boiz Inc," Libby reached for the audio system, then decided against it. She checked the radar screen, which was currently showing a yellow dot that they were getting closer and closer to each minute. If she was looking at it correctly, she estimated it would only be a few more minutes before they reached Gorlock, and Cindy's mood got more and more foul the closer they got.

Libby's estimation was right. A quick glance out the window showed that they were rapidly approaching the planet. It looked to be primarily vegetation, with trees that were almost identical to the ones on Earth. There was a slight yellow tinge to the air, making Libby wonder momentarily if they would be able to breathe on this planet. "Vox, what's the oxygen level on this planet?"

"_Oxygen levels sufficient for Earthlings."_

Cindy chuckled. "Since when does it matter? You've been into space with Neutron before, we've never had problems with breathing. Nearly getting blown up or killed or our parents getting eaten, yes, but never breathing."

"Yeah, that doesn't make sense, by the way. How does he manage that?"

"Oh, it's more simple than you'd think. You see-" before Cindy could finish her explanation, Vox cut her off.

"_Destination reached. Docking bay signaled to our arrival. Please begin landing sequence."_

"Shoot, better take care of that," Cindy switched off the auto pilot and took back the controls. Libby took the time to get back to her seat and buckle in – Cindy hadn't had much practice with landing and Libby wasn't quite sure she trusted her friend to be able to handle it without at least a few bumps.

They continued to glide their craft a few feet above the planet's surface until they found the docking bay – so far the only part of the planet that would not have looked out of place on Earth. While the rest of the planet almost seemed uninhabited, the docking bay appeared to be the hub of the city. The metallic gray towers rose from the ground and extended far into the sky, several stories up.

Cindy reached the first tower of the building, one of forty, then angled the space ship up, climbing back up into the sky they'd just descended from.

"_This is Docking Bay one," _came a voice over the radio, "_Continue assent until at top of Tower One. Then pull in. You have been confirmed but will still need to be checked in."_

"Um..noted," Cindy agreed, but she was preoccupied. By all accounts, she was stronger than Jimmy, yet she found it hard to keep pulling back on the steering mechanism at the right angle to keep it accelerating upwards. She was now grunting with the effort, and beads of sweat were starting to form on her forehead. What she didn't know was that Jimmy managed by using the strength in his whole body, while she was limiting herself to just the strength in her arms.

Libby's grip on her chair's arm rests tightened. She was starting to lose the feeling in her fingers and her jaw was clenched so tightly it was starting to hurt. _Please, please, please don't let us crash. I will finally go to one of those stupid Ultra Lord movies with Sheen and take Carl to the zoo to see the llamas and even let Jimmy run an experiment on me if we just survive this!_ She wasn't sure who she was bargaining with, but it helped her to keep calm.

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the top of the tower. Cindy suddenly pushed forward on the steering, forcing the ship from traveling upwards to racing forward. Both girls felt their necks jerk unpleasantly with the sudden change in motion. Cindy muttered an apology, but kept her focus mostly on the controls. She decreased the speed as she looked for a space – it shouldn't have surprised her, but did, that this docking bay on the inside looked more like an Earth parking garage. And just like Earth parking garages, it didn't seem to have any empty spaces.

"Darn it, there should be special parking for rescue missions!" Cindy grumbled after she pulled away from a space that at first glance had appeared to be empty – instead, it was taken up by some sort of anti gravity bike.

"Oooh, there's a space!" Libby unbuckled herself and rushed to the front of the ship, pointing Cindy in the direction of the vacant spot. Cindy gunned the engine and rushed into the space before anyone else could take it.

Before Cindy had even fully parked, Libby was opening the doors and rushing out of the ship. "Land!" she cried, a little dramatically in Cindy's opinion. "I missed you so much! Let's never be away again, especially if Cindy's driving!"

"Hey!" Cindy called indignantly as she exited the ship, "I thought I did a pretty good job with this being my second time piloting. We got here in one piece, didn't we?"

"_Visitors, please give name and id badges," _Neither Cindy nor Libby had noticed the orb getting closer to them until it was right in front of them. The orb was obviously robotic in design, with a small circle in the middle that appeared to be some sort of camera. It was golden and hovered in midair, everyonce in a while making a whirring noise Cindy guessed was related to what was keeping it afloat.

"Cindy Vortex and Libby Folfax," Libby offered the information. "But we're a little young to have ids on Earth..."

"_No visitor with these names on log. Perhaps it would be under your maiden name?"_

Cindy sighed. "Try checking under Jimmy Neutron."

"_Yes, visitor is on list. Come with me, Jimmy and ...friend," _Libby wasn't offended by being called friend but she was trying to hold back the giggles of Cindy being referred to as Jimmy.

"Yeah, sure," Cindy rolled her eyes but followed after the orb, making sure Libby was doing the same. "Libby, it's not funny."

"It really is, girl," Libby chuckled. "You should go as Jimmy for Halloween this year. We'll get you a wig."

"I'll go as Jimmy if you'll go as Sheen."

"Pass," Libby shuddered. "Yo, robot dude! Where are you taking us?" They had made their way out of the parking garage and into an elevator.

"_I have been asked to deliver Jimmy to Chee Aaaaaaaaah Doik."_

"Ummm...who?"

"_Chee Aaaaaaaaaah Doik, Chief Corcheck Slayer, Daughter of the Tribe, She of the Channel Decisions, Slayer of Nick-"_

"April," Cindy finally cut in. "He's taking us to April."

"Whoa, could you imagine putting all of that on a name tag, though? And when did she slay Nick?"

"I doubt he means Nick Dean," Cindy said skeptically.

"_Nick was a monster who threatened the land and -oh, it appears we are on the appropriate floor."_

"Wait, we're at the Docking Bay," Cindy pointed out, "Aren't we going to go see April? Shouldn't she be in another building?"

"_The Docking Bay is currently the only building tall enough and with enough security to house the new Intergalactic Cable system. A building is in the planning stages for the Cable building, but is not scheduled to be completed until 2020._"

"Convenient, at least," Cindy muttered.

"_I have other guests to attend to," _an arm appeared out of the bottom of the orb, pushing Cindy and Libby both out of the elevator. _"April is already waiting for you, Mr. Neutron. Please have a good day._" The elevator door snapped shut in their faces before either girl could protest or ask where to go.

"I guess we just wander around until we find her?" Libby suggested.

"Or we could give up on this and go without her?"

"You know that isn't gonna happen," Libby shook her head and took the lead. "We just keep looking until we find her. We know she's looking for us, so it won't take too long."

"No, _she's _looking for _Jimmy_."

"Let it go, girl. You won. We had this conversation. No more Sage Brush Sallys, no more Aprils no more Bettys. We're all good, Jimmy's yours and if you want to keep it that way we have to find him. Which means we have to find April."

"You know, the one thing I really miss about Sheen and Carl is that I usually didn't have to worry about them being right," Cindy exhaled slowly. "All right. Let's go find her."

It took about a half hour of them poking through the hallway. While it had seemed to be short enough to be easily explored, many of the doors lead to entirely different corridors. A few times the girls were shooed out of a room they entered, but never with any real malice behind it.

April had, indeed, found them first.

"Cindy? Libby?" April studied them carefully but kept looking around, her expression hopeful.

"He's not here," Cindy said, her voice flat.

"Have you chased him off so quickly?" April smirked.

"Watch it, girlfriend," Cindy growled, but Libby planted herself firmly between the Gorlock and the blonde.

"Jimmy was kidnapped. So were Sheen and Carl," Libby launched into an explanation of how the boys had gone missing and how they had started their mission, ending with the discovery that Goddard was on Planet Primus and their decision to ask April for help.

"I may not have time to assist you," April shook her head sadly. "Meldar is back and is threatening us."

"So use the matrix generators," Cindy suggested. "Heck, you could get rid of him with those and then help us find Jimmy really quickly if we use them."

"We had them destroyed."

"WHAT?!" Cindy and Libby chorused their shock.

"We believed it would be foolish to chance them falling into the wrong hands again. So they were destroyed. I still believe it was our best course of action."

Cindy considered it. "It probably was. But this isn't a coincidence. Meldar is involved in Jimmy's disappearance, too. We tracked Goddard to Primus, that can't just be a fluke."

"And your suggestion?"

"Help us find him. If we find Goddard, we can find Jimmy. If we find Jimmy, we can all put our heads together and fight Meldar again."

"It is agreed, Cindy Vortex," April extended a hand for Cindy to shake. Cindy took it and shook firmly. "Normally we would do the Gorlockan Seal of Trust, but something tells me you would not be amenable to this."


	8. Preparations

**Author's Note: **Hello! I usually try to get some writing done around Christmas time when I can. Thank you for your patience. Let's get going.

"Owwww..." Libby rubbed her backside and forced herself to sit back up again. The ship's auto pilot had been set for Primus so that Cindy and April could practice some grappling in case those skills were needed when getting the guys out. Libby hadn't anticipated the other two insisting that she join them. So far each move the other girls had tried to teach her had just ended with Libby on the ground, unsure of what had just happened.

"Come now, Libby," April assisted Libby to her feet. "Our youngest can handle the Riebesch Maneuver before they are even allowed to leave the nursery. How do you intend to find a mate if you cannot defeat him in battle?"

"One, our ways of finding a mate are a little different on Earth," Libby crossed her arms, "And two, I don't usually do the fighting. Cindy does. I'm more of a ...background music kinda gal. Like, do you want me to pick out some kick butt jams for you to train to? I'm all over that."

"This is what you do?"

"I can also sing." Libby offered.

April turned her attention back to Cindy. "So of all of you, you are the only one with fighting skills? And yet Jimmy Neutron told me of his numerous defeats of several villains."

"Jimmy fights with his brain," Cindy shrugged. "I tend to like the more violent answers, but he usually does okay," she decided, for once, not to mention that Jimmy often caused the problems in the first place. "But Libby is our common sense person. But to be fair, Libs, you did defeat Sheen in that Ultra Lord ritual he made you do that one Valentine's Day."

"Yeah, but that was Sheen," Libby pointed out. "And it did not make him my 'mate'" She used air quotes for the last word.

"Right now we need to get back to planning, anyway. I'm sure we'll get a lot of practice in for fighting before this is all through," Cindy went back to the ship's controls and pressed a button. A holographic projection of a map popped up from the center of the console. "Okay, so Goddard's there," she pointed to where a shiny red star kept blinking, "But we don't know if the guys are with him. April cross referenced this map with her network's data base and we know that it's not a prison, but it _is_ someone's home."

"Which actually makes it more suspicious for us to be rushing in there," Libby added.

"How do you figure?" April asked.

"Think about it – a prison's going to have different people in and out. Security guards and things, maybe even medical runs done by aliens from different planets. But if you stop by a house? The neighbors probably know if you have any Earthling or Gorlock friends. Going to be a lot harder to slip by unnoticed in a residential area."

Cindy seemed to deflate. "You're right. I have no idea how we're even going to get in there. Once we have Goddard, he has enough gizmos that we can probably get out with less problems. But how do we get in?"

April and Cindy both looked pensive, but Libby got a sudden spark in her eyes. "Hey, April...tell me more about that network you run."

* * *

Jimmy picked up the nutrient cube – the lights were still on for once, and he was able to examine it. It was smaller than yesterday's. He was sure of it. And yesterday's had been smaller than the day before. Were they trying to starve him? He was certain they were, and the lights still being on so he could examine the cube meant that they wanted him to know that he was being starved.

He knew he was feeling weak now, but whether that was starvation, dehydration or any number of things, he couldn't figure it out. He sighed and forced himself to swallow the cube, knowing it would do little to sate him now. He kept exhausting himself in trying to find a way out. Most days after the cube arrived, he searched through his prison for something he was missing until he finally passed out. Then he would continue the search the next day from where he had been when he'd lost consciousness.

He still wasn't any closer to finding a way out or figuring out who had done this to him. Jimmy knew only one thing right now:

He could only keep this up for a little longer before it would kill him.

* * *

"You shrank the nutrient cubes?" It was a question, but Goobot asked it in such a delighted manner it sounded more like praise.

"Sooner or later that jellybag usually finds a way out of things," Melbar explained. "And Earthlings don't think so well when their food supply is dwindling. We'll shrink it down until he finally stops exploring his surroundings, then hold him at that nutrition level until we decide how to kill him."

"You know, Old Bean," Eustace interrupted, "Humans can't go like that for very long. Lack of nutrition could kill him before we ever get the chance."

"Then I suggest we all form a consensus soon," Melbar narrowed his eyes in Eustace's direction, "Or else I get to pick out his ending and that means Earth goes with him. As well as your stuff. And if you'll excuse me, I have some other matters to get to." Melbar exited with Goobot trailing right behind him.

"Sheesh, who died and put that guy in charge?" Baby Eddie complained.

"Quite my sentiments as well," Eustace agreed, putting his right hand in his pocket and his left to his chin. As he seemed to ponder, his right hand pressed a button on a machine concealed in the pocket. He smirked slightly, but hoped the others didn't see it.

* * *

"Suck in!" Sheen insisted, trying to push Carl through the opening. It was not going to happen. Even both Sheen and Carl realized that the hole in the wall was too small for Carl's frame.

"Sheen, I can't fit!"Carl backed up suddenly, accidentally knocking Sheen over in the process. "It's no use. We're stuck here."

"Yeah," Sheen nodded.

Except _he _wasn't. He could fit through the hole himself, even if it would be a tight squeeze. Maybe he could even get them help.

"Please come back for me as soon as you can," Carl said in a small voice, staring pointedly at the ground.

"What?"

"You can fit and I can't," Carl sighed before adopting a more dramatic air. "You have to go on without me! Just forget about me and go!"

"I'm not going to forget about you, you still owe me six bucks," Sheen snorted. "But I can go get us help if you're okay with me going."

Carl nodded, hoping he looked braver than he felt. "Yeah. Just …just hurry, please? And find Jimmy."

"I swear on my UltraLord first edition comic book collection."

Carl nodded again, feeling only slightly comforted.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Sheen promised, ducking into the wall. It was dark, but he could feel that the hollowed area actually extended further than their cell. How much further, he couldn't be certain. Taking a deep breath, he headed into the unknown. _I hope I'll be back, anyway._


	9. Just My Imagination

**Author's Note: **Been a while, huh? For one, I lost all my notes and forgot where I was going with this. So now it's going a little differently. And I know the girls' plan is ridiculous, but sometimes the plans Jimmy and friends came up with in the show itself could be a little silly, so just trying to roll with that (and for the record, their plan is actually what I originally thought up when I first started this story). Thanks for sticking with me!

"Are you seriously just going to lay there? What good is that going to do?"

Jimmy rolled himself up off the floor and glanced in the direction the familiar voice had come from. Cindy stood there, hands planted firmly on her hips with her lips curled into a scowl. He felt his mind struggle to catch up. It didn't seem right for her to be there...how had she gotten there? And she looked different. It was still obviously Cindy, but she looked too perfect. He had always found her pretty, but she was glowing and any trace of the slight flaws (such as the acne that sometimes creeped in on her pre-teen skin) was gone.

"Think, Neutron!" She demanded.

"There's no light..." he said slowly.

"Good."

"So I shouldn't be able to see you. And there isn't a door here, so you can't be here." He sighed. "You're not here, are you?" She shook her head, the scowl changing into a frown. "You're a product of my imagination. Because I'm going crazy from isolation and lack of food."

"Not so fast, Brain Boy," Cindy contradicted, "I _am _a product of your imagination, but maybe I'm here to help. And we have to work at it fast – if your mind is desperate enough to be conjuring me up, it means we don't have much time left."

"Until..."

"Until you know what. I'm part of your mind, so you know exactly what I'm thinking – you don't have much time left before you end up starving. Which means they're either coming to kill you soon or they miscalculated your needs. I'm basically your mind's last attempt at a Brain Blast," she explained. "Apparently you feel that I'm the one who best motivates you when you feel like giving up."

Jimmy felt himself instinctively try to reach out to her, but even if she were real she would be too far away. He shook his head until it felt slightly less foggy then got on his hands and knees and started searching his jail, feeling around yet again to see if he had missed some possible escape route.

"If I can't find any way out...if I do starve...I want you to know that I lo-"

She cut him off. "Don't even think about it, Neutron. You stay alive long enough to tell the real Cindy.

* * *

"This plan is stupid," Cindy said, scratching at the fake mustache yet again. Libby batted her hand away.

"Stop that, or you _will_ get us caught," Libby had a fake goatee on. April had a full length fake beard – all courtesy of Jimmy's hyper cube. Libby checked the GPS on her cell phone – she had downloaded the exact location of Goddard's holding place there.

Just as they had previously thought, it was a small home. It looked like most places on Earth, in fact – this house was at the end of a cul-de-sac near multiple nearly identical houses. The girls made their way up the porch and April knocked.

"Ok, so when they answer this is when I will bludgeon them with the clipboard, right?" the gorlock whispered.

Libby gave a sharp "No!" just as Cindy was going "Maybe..."

"No," Libby repeated again firmly. April deflated a little but didn't contradict her. Libby chose to take this as a good sign.

Cindy bounced in place as she waited for the door to open, feeling more impatient by the second. "Are we sure someone's even home? Why would they keep Goddard here? None of this makes any-" Libby and April both clamped their hands over Cindy's mouth just as the door creaked open.

"Yes?" A woman opened the door. She looked like a human Earthling, only her skin was too shiny – it reflected the sunlight into the girls' eyes.

"Um, yes...ma'am," Cindy cleared her throat and tried to deepen it, hoping that this woman appearing human meant she wouldn't think it odd that two humans and a Gorlock were now standing on her front porch. "We are with the Intergalactic Cable Network and just wanted to see about getting you hooked up with our system today!"

"Fastest in the galaxy," Libby added, "Over nine million tv channels and ...like...six of them have good shows some of the time! Can't beat that!"

_Too honest, Libs,_Cindy resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her best friend. "Anyway, we'll just come right in to get you started," she attempted to gently push the woman out of the way. To her surprise, it was like trying to move a brick wall.

April stepped in to push the woman from the other side. "What the...?"

The woman's smile widened. Then continued to do so, past the point of what should have been possible until her skin started tearing in her cheeks.

"I've seen like ...three horror movies with scenes like this and I think we need to run," Libby hooked one arm into April's arm and the other into Cindy's, trying to haul the other girls along with her. Unfortunately, while no push over Libby was the weakest of the bunch and couldn't get either of the other two to move even an inch.

The woman's skin continued to tear in jagged little pieces, showing it had merely been a covering someone had placed over her real body. Her real, _metal_ body.

"Vandana?!" April cried as the robot's real face finally became completely visible. "But you were working for us – you had Meldar on the Intergalactic Shopping Network to make him do all those vapid demonstrations. Why would you be helping him?"

"Why thank you, April, what a lovely introduction!" Vandana started into her typical game show assistant role, "You're absolutely right, I did enjoy being on Intergalactic Shopping Network, but Meldar reprogrammed me," she chuckled, "And now I just want to see the end of all the little Jellybags!" Her body went from the usual svelte figure to the more hulking figure Cindy and April had previously fought. April tossed the clipboard she'd been holding at Vandana's head, but to no effect.

Cindy glanced around, trying to figure out a plan as Vandana picked April up and tossed her halfway across the yard. The alien snarled in response, charging back up the porch and headbutting the robot in the stomach.

Cindy grabbed Libby and pitched her inside the house "Find Goddard!"

"But what about you two?"

"We'll hold her off as long as we can – but if you get Goddard you can reprogram her!" Cindy shouted just as Vandana grabbed her around the middle. "Get going!" she demanded as she began struggling.

Libby nodded though she wasn't sure her friend could see her. "Ok, if I were a robot trying to hide a robot dog, where would I put him?" She stopped inside the house, momentarily considering checking the backyard for a dog house. "...You're thinking like Sheen again," she chastised herself. "Keep thinking..."

Libby was not one to do a Brain Blast. She was not one to even try it – but she could, and did, know how to keep herself calm and focused. Trying not to think of what might be happening outside to her best friend and to April, she took a deep breath.

_They wouldn't want Goddard to be too visible, just in case, or they wouldn't have bothered dressing Vandana up and putting her in a house instead of having her guard Goddard in a real prison. So he's either in an attic or a basement, and this house doesn't look like it has a basement..._Libby reasoned before dashing up the stairs. She heard a crash from outside but forced herself to keep going – hopefully the fact she hadn't heard a scream accompanying the crash was a good sign.

Ignoring the rooms upstairs, she jumped for the rope for the attic door as soon as she saw it. The door pulled down and the ladder automatically folded in front of her. She tore up the stairs as quickly as she could.

Goddard was floating in a yellow bubble above the ground but was facing away from her. After a few seconds of inspection, the bubble crackled blue and Libby knew it was electrified. "Ok, boy, can you hear me?"

Goddard whipped around, his tail wagging happily as he barked his response.

"I guess so," she chuckled. "But I'm betting your tech doesn't work from in here or you would have gotten yourself out, right?" Goddard whimpered. "Yeah, I got you. Ok, so..what to do here?"

She had been too engrossed in her predicament and hadn't noticed Vandana sneaking up behind her – not until Goddard barked a warning. Libby ducked just as Vandana reached for her, sending the robot right into the electric field around Goddard.

"And for the pr-pri-price...price of...but wait, there's more!" Vandana twitched as she went through multiple sales pitches before dropping to the floor. The field disrupted by the sudden short circuit Vandana had caused, Goddard dropped down, landing on top of the other robot.

"Libby, we're here!" Cindy had limped her way up the stairs, followed shortly by April, both looking worse for the wear. Cindy's usually neat ponytail was frizzed with multiple strands hanging out and she had a black eye. April was holding her right arm gingerly, signaling to Libby that it was probably broken.

"I'm fine..you two uh...you two may need to rest up before we try to take on Meldar." Noticing that the other two had lost their fake facial hair in the brawl, Libby finally removed her own fake beard and tossed it on the ground.

"We don't have time!" Cindy snapped. "And where's...Vandana...?" she finally took in the site of the smoking pile of metal. "What did you do to her, Libs?"

Libby smirked. "Oh, you know, just a karate chop here, some ju-jitsu...you're not falling for this at all, are you? Ok, fine, she ran into the force field she was holding Goddard in."

"Goddard?" In response, the robot dog rushed up to Cindy, licking her in the face. "I missed you, boy," she hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you're all right. But Goddard, we need you to do something. Can you find Jimmy?"

Goddard lifted his front panel to reveal his screen, which typed out the words in response.

_Jimmy does not have a tracking unit_

"I was afraid you'd say something like that. We're just going to have to hope the guys are with him," Cindy swallowed hard in order to keep the tears that were threatening to fall in check. "Search Carl Wheezer and Sheen Estevez."

"I thought you had both said you could not locate those two?" April asked, confused.

"Not from Earth," Libby admitted, "But here we're probably closer to them..._probably _and even if we aren't Jimmy tends to put his best upgrades and software into Goddard. If he can't do it, we're just going to have to go planet to planet turning over rocks and knocking on doors or something."

_Sheen and Carl have been located. Planet: Yolkus_.

* * *

When Eustace had pressed his button, back on Earth Blix snapped to attention – his cell phone had been equipped to pick up the alarm. He muttered to himself as he deciphered the code. "_Jah...jah..._Ok, so he pressed ze three..."

He nodded to himself as he pulled up a map of Retroville on his phone. "Ah, yes, zhere is ze Neutron house. On my way, _mein herr_!" he saluted as though Eustace could see him.

Of course he didn't know if the Neutrons would help at all. He merely copied out the full text of what Eustace had sent him, hoping that showing Jimmy's parents would be enough to get their help. And knowing that it would at the very least get their attention. The help would follow, so long as they believed him.

The note Eustace had sent translated to:

_Jimmy Neutron's life in terrible danger – if he is not saved, Earth will follow soon after. And all of my stuff_ (this sentence Blix had crossed out). _Jimmy currently being held on a small planet that myself and the rest of the so-called "League of Villains" are occupying. I cannot save him, for fear that they will find me and hurt me. _(this Blix also crossed out, but more out of a sense of loyalty to keeping his young charge's craven nature a secret – even if most people already knew) _Presumably his friends and family would be more amenable to possibly getting killed in the effort to save him. Find them and get help. All of our lives depend on it._


End file.
